First Real Vienna Day, Short Update

I arrived in Vienna last night. There wasn't a lot to post then, and also, the internet was quite spotty on account of the landlady's daughter having lost the code. The landlady herself was nice, but there was decidedly a language barrier and I was glad her husband was there to translate (as well as Sonya, whose name, if she ever reads this, I apologize for misspelling).

I don't yet have any pictures of Vienna; yesterday was focused on moving luggage around, and today on getting registered with the police and finding the IES center. I'll make sure to get some soon. In the mean time, here are some photos from the tail end of my time in Mariazell:

The wooded walk up to the Chapel On The Hill (not it's official title)
Said Chapel
Unfortunately hard to see Mariazell here, but it's in the center of the town below the hill

Inside the Chapel On The Hill (photo taken through hole in locked wooden door)

A close up of Mariazell from the Chapel On The Hill
As you can tell from these pictures, I hiked back up to the chapel, this time in daylight. I met a pilgrim there, and he described how on the same day I met him (it was morning) he was going to walk to the top of the opposing hill behind Mariazell. He then wanted to talk to me about JFK and Arnold Schwarzenegger, but the conversation was decidedly broken. He left, though he pointed out the hole in the door, and I took some photos and left as well. We drove back to Vienna, all arrived downtown, and took taxis to our residences. Again, I met the landlady, some folks who won't be here too long in the apartment, and learned that Katharina, the landlady's daughter, will be back in September some time, and before then, a Spanish girl will be moving in on the 28th of August. After battling with emotional homesickness and my suitcases, I went to bed, got up and did more battling, and then took a shower and went out, walking to get my police form filled out. This done, I met up with some folks and went on the subway to the IES center. I had a great time in my first intensive German class, though it was much shorter than the coming ones. The walking tour was very informative about Staatsoper standing room procedure, an art museum that has an original Waterlilies, and countless food and shopping locations. Finally, I practiced for a fairly long while to get myself back in shape there. I set out and got a sandwich before getting lost and walking for two hours before taking the U-Bahn to where I needed to get internet hook up materials from Tele.Ring (T-Mobil). Then I took the U-Bahn home (and know how to get back to IES using it!!)

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